83 FR 27599 - Proposed Allocation of Olmsted Powerplant Replacement Project

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Western Area Power Administration

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 114 (June 13, 2018)

Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP) Management Center, a Federal power marketing agency of the Department of Energy, announces its Olmsted Powerplant Replacement Project (Olmsted) Proposed Allocation of Energy. The Final 2018 Olmsted Power Marketing Plan and Call for Applications was published on October 11, 2017, and set forth that an application for an allocation of energy from Olmsted was due by December 11, 2017. WAPA has reviewed and considered the applications received and this Federal Register notice outlines WAPA's proposed allocations.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 114 (Wednesday, June 13, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27599-27600]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-12697]



[[Page 27599]]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Western Area Power Administration


Proposed Allocation of Olmsted Powerplant Replacement Project

AGENCY: Western Area Power Administration, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of proposed allocation of Olmsted Powerplant Replacement 
Project.

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SUMMARY: Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) Colorado River 
Storage Project (CRSP) Management Center, a Federal power marketing 
agency of the Department of Energy, announces its Olmsted Powerplant 
Replacement Project (Olmsted) Proposed Allocation of Energy. The Final 
2018 Olmsted Power Marketing Plan and Call for Applications was 
published on October 11, 2017, and set forth that an application for an 
allocation of energy from Olmsted was due by December 11, 2017. WAPA 
has reviewed and considered the applications received and this Federal 
Register notice outlines WAPA's proposed allocations.

DATES: All comments must be received by the end of the comment period 
to be assured of consideration. The comment period on the proposed 
allocation of power begins June 13, 2018 and ends July 13, 2018. WAPA 
will accept written comments any time during the 30-day comment period.

ADDRESSES: All written comments regarding the proposed allocation of 
power should be directed to the following address: Mr. Brent Osiek, 
Vice President of Power Marketing for CRSP, CRSP Management Center, 
Western Area Power Administration, 299 South Main Street, Suite 200, 
Salt Lake City, UT 84111. Comments may also be faxed to (801) 524-5017 
or emailed to: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Brent Osiek, Vice President of 
Power Marketing for CRSP, (801) 524-5495; or Mr. Lyle Johnson, Public 
Utilities Specialist, (801) 524-5585. Written requests for information 
should be sent to CRSP Management Center, Western Area Power 
Administration, 299 South Main Street, Suite 200, Salt Lake City, UT 
84111; faxed to (801) 524-5017; or emailed to: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The United States acquired the Olmsted 
Powerplant in 1990 through condemnation proceedings in order to secure 
the water rights associated with the Olmsted Powerplant deemed 
essential to the Central Utah Project (CUP). The CUP is a participating 
project of the Colorado River Storage Project. As part of the 
condemnation proceedings, PacifiCorp continued Olmsted operations until 
2015; after that time, the operation of the facility became the 
responsibility of the Bureau of Reclamation.
    The existing Olmsted Powerplant greatly exceeded its operational 
life, and a replacement facility was needed for the generation of power 
and preservation of associated non-consumptive water rights. On 
February 4, 2015, the Implementation Agreement (Agreement) for Olmsted 
was signed by Central Utah Water Conservancy District (District); the 
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation; and WAPA 
(Participants). The Agreement sets forth the responsibilities of the 
Participants and identifies funding of Olmsted. The District will 
construct, operate, maintain, and replace the Olmsted Powerplant and 
incidental facilities in connection with its CUP operations, including 
power generation.
    WAPA is responsible for marketing the Olmsted energy, which is 
anticipated to be available in the late summer of 2018. Power 
production will be incidental to the delivery of water and will only be 
available when water is present. Therefore, only energy, without 
capacity, will be available for marketing. It is expected that the 
annual energy production from Olmsted will average around 27,000,000 
kWh per year. The Final 2018 Olmsted Power Marketing Plan and Call for 
Applications was published on October 11, 2017 (82 FR 47201), and set 
forth that an application for an allocation of energy from Olmsted was 
due by December 11, 2017.

Olmsted Proposed Allocation of Energy

    Pursuant to the Final Power Marketing Criteria, allocations of 
energy from Olmsted were made based on a percentage of annual 
generation rather than fixed quantities of energy. Olmsted is a ``take 
all, pay all'' project; the annual revenue requirement does not depend 
on the amount of energy available each year. Customers with an 
allocation will receive a share of the energy and will annually pay a 
proportional share of the operation, maintenance, and replacement 
(OM&R) expenses in 12 monthly installments.
    Applications were received from four entities representing a total 
of 14 eligible applicants. In considering the Power Marketing Criteria, 
priority was given to the District due to its role in the construction, 
operation, maintenance, and replacement of Olmsted. The District will 
receive 30 percent of Olmsted's annual generation.
    Olmsted will be electrically interconnected to Provo City's (Provo) 
distribution and transmission facilities. Provo is a participant of the 
Utah Municipal Power Agency (UMPA), a joint-action agency responsible 
for supplying the wholesale power needs to Provo and other municipal 
electric utilities in the area. UMPA, a long-term power customer of 
WAPA, has agreed to accept all Olmsted energy as it is generated and, 
under a scheduling and displacement agreement with WAPA, provide 
Olmsted customers with their respective Olmsted allocation amounts from 
a portion of UMPA's allocation of Salt Lake City Area Integrated 
Projects (SLCA/IP) resources, which is also marketed by WAPA. This 
arrangement will allow the Olmsted recipients more flexibility as it 
will be easier to schedule this SLCA/IP resource, which is essentially 
exchanged for Olmsted generation, and it allows the use of existing 
scheduling and transmission wheeling arrangements. In consideration for 
providing these arrangements, UMPA will receive a 30 percent allocation 
of Olmsted generation.
    After consideration of the allocations to the District and UMPA, 
WAPA determined it would use the remaining Olmsted energy to increase 
the allocations of those applicants that have the lowest percentages of 
their current loads served by Federal power. Four of the applicants 
receive less than 10 percent of their energy resources from Federal 
power. All of the other applicants currently receive over 20 percent of 
their energy requirements from Federal allocations. Therefore, WAPA 
awarded 10 percent of the Olmsted generation to the four applicants 
receiving less than 10 percent of their energy from Federal sources. 
The following table shows the proposed allocation percentages of the 
annual energy production of Olmsted:

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                         Applicant                            Percentage
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Central Utah Water Conservancy District....................           30
Utah Municipal Power Agency................................           30
Lehi City, Utah............................................           10
Kaysville City, Utah.......................................           10
Weber Basin Water Conservancy District.....................           10
Springville City, Utah.....................................           10
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    WAPA will respond to the comments received regarding the Olmsted 
Proposed Allocation of Energy and publish its final allocations after 
the public comment period ends. If any adjustments or corrections are 
necessary in a recipient's percentage allocation, the allocations of 
all other recipients

[[Page 27600]]

may change. WAPA plans to enter into contracts with customers after 
publication of the Final Allocation of Power Federal Register notice.

Availability of Information

    Documents developed or retained by WAPA during this public process 
will be available, by appointment, for inspection and copying at the 
CRSP Management Center, 299 South Main Street, Suite 200, Salt Lake 
City, Utah. Any comments received during the 30-day comment period will 
be posted to WAPA's website at the following address: https://www.wapa.gov/regions/CRSP/PowerMarketing/Pages/power-marketing.aspx.

Procedural Requirements

Environmental Compliance

    In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321-4347), the Council on Environmental Quality 
Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), and DOE NEPA Regulations (10 CFR 
part 1021), WAPA issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) on 
January 13, 2017. The FONSI and other NEPA compliance documentation may 
be found at https://www.wapa.gov/regions/CRSP/environment/Pages/environment.aspx.

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA), 5 U.S.C. 601, et 
seq., requires a Federal agency to perform a regulatory flexibility 
analysis whenever the agency is required by law to publish a general 
notice of proposed rulemaking for any proposed rule unless the agency 
can certify that the rule will not have a significant economic impact 
on a substantial number of small entities. In defining the term 
``rule,'' the RFA specifies that a ``rule'' does not include ``a rule 
of particular applicability relating to rates [and] services . . . or 
to valuations, costs or accounting, or practices relating to such rates 
[and] services . . . .'' 5 U.S.C. 601. WAPA has determined that this 
action relates to rates or services offered by WAPA and, therefore, is 
not a rule within the purview of the RFA.

Determination Under Executive Order 12866

    WAPA has an exemption from centralized regulatory review under 
Executive Order 12866; accordingly, no clearance of this Federal 
Register notice by the Office of Management and Budget is required.

    Dated: May 30, 2018.
Mark A. Gabriel,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2018-12697 Filed 6-12-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6450-01-P